Atom Strange

ATOM STRANGE began in the winter of 2006 when guitarist Alex Rude was working part time for a friend at a high end comic book shop in Manhattan. Rude came across a copy of DC Comics Showcase #117. It was the debut of the title character of Adam Strange. With a tattoo of an atom on his arm and his life long fascination with the world of sci fi and outer space, Atom Strange was born. After two years of writing and recording and a few line up changes, the first cohesive line up took shape with:

The band is about to release their second cd “Cosmic Disturbance” in early 2010. They have toured all over the east coast during the summer of ‘09 opening for the likes of KING’s X and LA Guns and look forward to hitting every other city and town in America and beyond with their high energy show!

Rick Dunn

Rick Dunn was born outside of NYC and started his musical career playing the drums. He studied with Howie Mann, Dave Hirsch and jazz legend, the late Al Miller. He would eventually drop the drums in favor of singing and focused heavily on music. He later moved to Arizona where he finished high school and joined his first rock band “The Cringe”. That didn’t last too long as he realized what it takes to be a professional in the music industry. He went on to sing in a number of local bands and even did some impersonations because the pay was good and he got to travel/tour a bit. He later moved to Florida where he met up with one of the many keyboard players from K.C. and the Sunshine Band and recorded his first demo of cover tunes. That demo opened some doors and he soon landed a record deal singing with the startup band “World SuperCell”. As fate would have it, the deal fell through due to some rather criminal activity from the “label”. He quickly regrouped and moved north back to his home state of New York and joined a band called “Immune” out of Long Island. The band had all the potential but none of the focus and he soon quit to find a better situation. Answering and ad from some NYC rockers looking for a lead vocalist, he auditioned and got the gig. Within a few weeks he was in the studio singing on what would become the first ATOM STRANGE release. The band had recorded 6 songs, changed their name and were off to the races. Several line up changes later he is one of the founding members of ATOM STRANGE and commands the audience with his incredible voice and witty lyrics.




Alex Rude

Alex Rude was born and raised in NYC. The son of immigrants from Uruguay in South America, he was first exposed to the music he found in his parents record collection as a child including the Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel, Bob Dylan and lots of South American folk music. His grandfather was an orchestra leader and composer in Uruguay and it seems that those beautiful genes were passed along to him. As a young boy he was attracted to the garish makeup and costumes of KISS firstly because they looked like the superheroes he was reading about (and still reads) in comic books and secondly because they sounded like something he was sure that his parents would hate! A true trademark for real rock’n‘roll!. After buying their landmark ALIVE! record he got a chance to see them live when his dad took him to a concert at the Nassau Coliseum. The next day he headed straight to New York City’s magical West 48th Street to buy an electric guitar with the money he had saved to buy a new bicycle. He came home with a used black Ibanez Iceman and began to play in the mirror emulating his hero Ace Frehley. He would go on to play about 8 hours a day for the rest of his teenage years learning mostly from guitar magazines and his stereo. After a couple of years playing covers with his friends he joined “2000 A.D”. Basically a Motorhead style of metal where he cut his teeth playing a 1968 Les Paul through a Randall amp writing their most brutal riffs and hooks. His style was maturing though and he needed to find a band with a broader palette. He joined art rock progenitors “Jesse Taylor Is Dead”. With JTID he learned about song writing and recording with some of the best in the business. They recorded 1 cd at the famous Pie Studios owned by Perry Margoulef who joined JTID after him. That band eventually fizzled but left a mark on Rude. The bar was set high and he wouldn’t settle anymore for just OK. Safe is death! A year later he joined a new band being formed with an amazing singer named Roxy Cox. Her voice, stage presence and songwriting ability showed him what was possible in a more, for lack of a better word, “pop” sense. That band was called “LICK”. It was a departure from the art rock thing that JTID were doing but not foreign at all to Rude. It was LOUD ROCK ‘N’ ROLL and he made sure to add his unique style to the writing. That made for a great combination of straight out rock with some vibrant dynamics and it was always sexy. They recorded 2 cds and played extensively to full houses all over the north east for about 4 years. It was a good run but had found an end before major success could find them. With the demise of LICK and a few false starts Rude started searching for the people that would eventually become ATOM STRANGE.

Matt Volpe

The bass bug bit Matt Volpe hard in his last year of high school upon hearing Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric Avery from Jane’s Addiction, and Joe Lally from Fugazi. Matt Volpe started playing bass in his NYU college dorm at age 19.  He has not put down the instrument since.  As his musical tastes expanded to jazz, dub, r & b, and metal, it became clear to him he needed to play bass, not just wanted to play bass. His first band was with the Elevens, a rock/pop group formed with college friends. A more serious venture began when he later joined the NYC underground art metal band Shirley Temple of Doom, where he grew not only as a bassist but as a songwriter. After 10 years and 3 full-length albums later, Matt left STD to pursue other musical opportunities.  He did a one off improv record with an art rock band he helped form named Blanche Mayhem. He appeared as a session bassist for the GODSPELL 2000 soundtrack on Universal Records. He later joined a Williamsburg, Brooklyn alt rock outfit named Slim Francis. Matt then became a member of the female fronted punk/pop band, Pucker.  He later joined a children’s music extravaganza band, Baze and His Silly Friends and he loved every second of it. He plays bass and records occasionally with his cousin’s rock band, The Ed Volpe Band. Matt is also a session bassist, having recorded with acclaimed television composer, John Angier. Most recently, Matt has become the new bass player for Atom Strange, and is extremely excited and stoked to be playing with such great talent.  In addition to his life in music, Matt has a full time career as a Senior Writer/Producer/Editor for Syfy/NBC and lives in New Jersey with his wife Gina and their son Avery.

Vinnie LaRocca

Vinnie was born and raised twenty minutes from everything and continues to live in Northern New Jersey.  At nine years old he sat behind his father’s 1960’s Gretsch kit, and quickly became a second generation drummer.  That fortuitous encounter would help Vinnie discover both a life-long passion, and part-time pick-up line.  Throughout his career Vinnie understood that his craft was more of a vocation than an occupation.  With vocations, there is a calling.  Thankfully, Vinnie didn’t have to wait for a Callback from Atom Strange because they were in sync throughout his audition.  His craft has always been important to him and he has studied with some of the following notables:  Tommy Igoe, Doug Yowell, and Tom Sayek among others. His greatest influence may have been Walt Disney as evidenced by the 157 Animation Cels decorating his office walls, but the discerning listener may also notice the influences of Buddy Rich, Max Roach, Gene Kruppa, and Dave Weckl in his work.  Vinnie has been sighted behind a self-propelled John Deere Lawn Mower, but prefers to spend most of his time behind his green DW kit.